Catharsis
by Padawan Skywalker
Summary: The Santa Clause fic. Bernard-centric. Bernard likes to be in control, but what happens when he is put under house arrest? A whole new Bernard surfaces.


_A/N: A quick warning—this may be fairly dark for a __Santa Clause__ fanfic. There's an interesting story behind it though. I thought of the idea for this story while trapped overnight in my college's gym three nights ago. If you live in Southern California and have been watching the news lately, my college is Westmont College in Santa Barbara/Montecito. The Tea Fire started on Thursday night at around 6 PM right outside my dorm. The entire student body was placed in our fireproof gym overnight while our college burned around us. It was truly a trying experience, but I learned so much about myself in those 18 hours. It was an amazing experience that I would never ever give up. With that…here's the story. By the way, I don't own __The Santa Clause__ or __The Santa Clause 2__. Obviously. Haha._

Bernard liked to be in control. In fact, it would be much more accurate if it were to be worded this way: Bernard lived, breathed, and strived for control. It was his personality and quite a habit of his---one that he was actually very proud of, thank you very much. He didn't get so far up the corporate ladder without determination and planning. So, if Bernard liked control so much, how did he end up here? Oh, right. Curtis.

"Here" was a jail cell---a very cheery, red and green decorated jail cell, but still a jail cell. Decorations didn't really change Bernard's attitude or his situation all that much. Bernard had never been enclosed in a small space for a very long time. It's really not something he thought much about. He never expected to be here. Never. Imagine Bernard's situation: He was supposed to be in charge of Christmas planning while Santa was gone, but instead, a fake toy Santa put him under house arrest. The real Santa was supposed to be finding a wife before Christmas, but he quickly used up most of his magic and so far, no success. And Curtis was being, well, Curtis. He's always a disaster. Bernard didn't really know how to cope. He didn't even have his planner with him! One truly learns to appreciate normal everyday items in these types of situations.

Bernard paced back and forth, waiting and waiting for some form of communication---with anyone other than those giant, idiotic, nutcracker guards that just stood there and did nothing.

"Well," he figured aloud (it's not like the nutcrackers could hear him or anything), "they didn't exactly do nothing. They _were_ the ones that dragged me in here and locked the door in the first place, unless I dreamed it all. That is highly doubtful." Bernard pinched himself just in case. "Nope. Definitely not a dream."

Bernard didn't know how long he had been in the cell. It was truly a mystery and something that deeply bothered and worried him. How long had that imposter been harassing all of the elves? Was Curtis still helping him? Where was the real Santa? Bernard did know that he had been in the cell for a long time. He was hungry, thirsty, and dead-tired. He wasn't really sure how long he had slept, or if he slept at all. Sleeping on a hard wood floor was definitely not something that he was looking forward to having the pleasure of doing again. It did give him a lot of time to think though.

Bernard was not a young elf. He had lived for thousands of years, and although elves have longer life spans than humans, a thousand years is even a long time for one single elf to live. Bernard considered himself both blessed and cursed, he supposed. He was a much more experienced elf, meaning that he could help other elves, if he felt so inclined to. Now that he thought about it, when had he last truly helped someone? He couldn't really think of a time. The downside to being so old was that he was very bitter. Bernard knew that elves were characterized as happy little helpers with smiles on their faces, but that was just not him anymore. He was different physically, so he figured that he had to be different emotionally. Right. Physically. It always pained him to think that he looked so different from his fellow co-workers. They were all so young, so full of life, and so much like elves. But he was, well, he was very human-like, which he wasn't always proud of.

There was nothing wrong with humans, of course, but sometimes Bernard just wanted to be able to be normal. A normal elf. That would have been nice. He had once been normal, but that was a long time ago. He could barely remember it and frankly, it hurt him to try.

Bernard once had a family: a father, a mother, and two brothers. His life revolved around them, especially when his father died in a terrible sledding accident when Bernard was still very young. Sledding accidents were very common back then, particularly because the forests were so much thicker and wilder. Trees had not yet been chopped down, placed in homes, and decorated for Christmas each year. That was a tradition that was many years to come. Bernard stayed very close to his mother for the rest of her life, until she died only twenty years later. It was devastating to Bernard and his two brothers. Derrick, Bernard's older sibling, couldn't take it and left home. Bernard and his younger brother, Rhys, never heard from him again. Bernard coped by focusing on his studies and it was around this time that he decided that he wanted to work in Santa's Workshop. This was one of the highest and most prestigious jobs that an elf could reach in his or her life-time. Bernard knew that he was reaching high, but he was determined. Unfortunately, this meant that he spent very little time with Rhys. Rhys was left home alone much of the time and slowly became a very hardhearted individual. His grades dropped, he cut off a lot of healthy relationships, and soon decided that he wanted to move out. Bernard was so frustrated with his unruly younger brother that he let him go, which was a huge mistake. It was not long before Rhys completely disappeared from Bernard's life as well. Bernard was still a very young elf when he lost all of his family.

Just thinking about this now was devastating. Bernard remembered now why he never allowed himself any free-time. Free-time meant free-thinking. Free-thinking meant no control over his thoughts. His thoughts always led him to his past. He shook his head, trying to erase the memories, but they just kept coming.

Bernard had been in love once too. Her name was Holly and she was beautiful, both inside and out. Everyone knew that they were meant to be. They were both hard-workers, had similar childhoods, and were deeply in love with each other. But one thing separated them from each other: Bernard's deep and controlling ambition. He didn't know it, but it had caused him to become very unfeeling and unemotional. Bernard and Holly dated for years and he never thought of proposing. She was getting older and so was he, but he never brought it up. One day, Holly couldn't take it anymore. Just like everyone else in Bernard's life, she left. Like before, in order to stifle the pain in his heart, Bernard worked harder and harder. It wasn't long before he got the position of Head Elf in Santa's Workshop.

Bernard wanted to smile. He really did. He wanted to think that getting the position of Head Elf was a happy memory, but in this context, it really wasn't. Holly was gone now. He knew it. He had received a letter from her granddaughter just a couple of years ago. Holly had died of old age and had lived a happy life. She got married and had three children, who in turn gave her four grandchildren. Her legacy would live on through them. Bernard's wouldn't. He had no-one. For the first time in hundreds of years, Bernard fell to his knees and sobbed. He truly let go---of everything. Who would have guessed that being trapped in a cell for who knows how long could be so cathartic? **Maybe being here was not such a waste after all.**


End file.
